Bloodied Peñalosa bows to Morel

Grizzled veteran Gerry Peñalosa dropped a 12-round split decision loss to former world champion Eric Morel of Puerto Rico in their battle for the interim WBO bantamweight title Saturday at the Las Vegas Hilton (Sunday in Manila). Peñalosa, who came back down to the bantamweight class after a failed bid at the super-bantamweight division last year, suffered a cut above his left eye as a result of two accidental head clashes in the sixth round but continued to fight on and press the action, according to FightFan.Com. However, Morel, a former world champion, got the nod of two judges, 116-112, and 115-113, while the 37-year-old Filipino warrior topped the scorecard of the third, 115-113. With the win, Morel captured the interim 118-lb diadem of the WBO, in the process earning the right to vie for the WBO bantamweight world title. It was the second straight loss for Peñalosa, who suffered his first TKO setback in his last outing, a 10th-round stoppage at the hands of Juan Manuel Lopez in his bid to become a three-division champion last year. It was not immediately known whether the veteran fighter will finally hang his gloves after such back-to-back defeats. - GMANews.TV